I'm in Sussex...England!

Hello all! Weekend 2: 6/18-6/20
So this weekend was fun! On Saturday Elizabeth, Hailey,Lindsey and I went to Brighton. I didn't know what to expect, all I knew is that it was on the coast. As we traveled south I realized that we were going to be in Sussex, England. Oh Sussex, how my ties to you will never end. First thing I did when we arrived was started looking for signs with "Sussex" on them. The first one I saw was the Sussex BBC office. Lovely! From then on we just had a good calm day exploring Brighton's beach and shops. We had a wonderful relaxing day. Brighton is on the English Channel (so I got to stand in that) and is best known for Brighton Pier. In the morning we wandered through the beach side shops and got to see some beautiful photography and lots of art. I have never seen so many artist stands at a beach before. It was very neat. Lots of canvas paintings, photography, and even stained glass. Also there was lots of seafood resturants (thus the picture of me and Hailey and the giant shellfish) as well as a beach carousel. It was cute and hokey, so of course I rode it. You are only at Brighton and the British Channel once...might as well make the most of it. Most importantly I am a kid at heart and it was very old fashioned. My horse even had a name....it was Terry (haha, sorry mom. good thing its not spelled the same way)
It is a typical coastal town, and very fun. Brighton Pier reminded me of Coney Island, and where some older people must come back to reminise about the "good old days." I thought of the movie the Notebook, and imagined of how the pier must have been back in its hay-day. When eating lunch on a bench, I people watched like I usually do, and saw a few older individuals walking the pier by themselves. My mind of course went to the worst and thought of their spouse may have passed and that they come back to remember the first time they met. Very romantic and depressing my thoughts. Sorry. I would like to see them as beautifully devoted and romantic, not so much depressing. However, these are just stories I make up in my head, the old man probably wanted the exercise.
The pier goes pretty far into the channel and at the end it was full of carny rides and games. It was rather cold and windy when we were on the pier, but it was still beautiful. From there, looking back on the coast and to the east, I could see the white cliffs in the distance. Then, I thought of the movie Atonement...another beautifully depressing movie. I hope people understand my movie references, sorry if not. The cliffs were still brilliantly white even in the cloudy weather. It was nice to get to a beach, however England weather is usually not that nice. The weather all day had long periods of sun and long moments of cloudiness. The beach in Brighton is all rocks...it made me really appreciate sand in the states. The rocks were not sharp, just annoying when walking down to the water and getting them stuck in shoes.
We went to the Royal Pavillion and looked at the outside. It was a beautiful Indian styled place where George IV and his mistress went to vacation. Funny story. We were not sure where this place was so we asked someone who worked at Brighton Pier for directions or at least to point us in the right direction. "The Royal Pavillion? I have no idea what you are talking about." Once we explained what it was they said that it should be that direction but it is a ways down. We started walking and got there in 5 minutes. Makes me wonder if the person really knew what they were talking about or just pulling the tourist's leg. It was very pretty to look at from the outside, but you couldn't take pictures inside it so we decided to save the money. There was also someone getting hitched that day and were taking pictures outside of the pavillion. The reason I mention this? They were all cute in their penguin suits and were being driven around in sweet 1930s cars. I really liked them. We then ventured to the Lanes of Brighton, the shopping area of Brighton. I found two cool things. 1) The Sussex--see in picture and 2) a hunting and gun shop! Hunting is not that big here and I think the rules are very very restrictive so I was surprised to see that. I took a picture with it (on someone else's camera...in time it will be up)
From there we decided to relax on the rock filled beach, and it surprisingly was a good nap area. Chilly, but we did get chunks of sunshine. Through all of this the temperature was around 65 F and the crazy thing is that people were still swimming in the channel. I was in the channel for about 10 minutes and had enough. While on the beach I gathered alot of seashells...perhaps too many. I think I was just shell happy, finding them in all the rocks was like a game. So when I found them, I just threw them in my purse. I may have to sort them out hehe.
From there we had one last walk through the beachside shops. I bought some postcards, a necklace, and ice cream. One final thing I got was at the train station and that was two pasties. I have been told that it is typical English food, so I must at least try it. It looked like a personal calzone, but filled with non-Italian things. Served warm as well. I had my veggie one for dinner and also brought a tomato, cheese, basil one for home. Overall it was a lovely Saturday and it was just what we needed.
That night I decided to get my laundry done. That was silly. I did not notice the sign saying that the laundry room was only open until 1045...my laundry was getting done at 11. So my laundry was locked away for the night. I don't like people touching my laundry so I got up at 8 (when it opened) grabbed my stuff, threw it on my bed and then slept until 11. I was very tired for the last few nights I was up late, and did not sleep as much as I usually do on the train ride.
One more thing I noticed. This is only my second day trip but everytime I feel like I have a song to go with it. When I visited my relatived the whole day I had "God have mercy on a country boy" by Josh Turner in my head. First time in the country since being in the city. When in Bath I had the opening song from Beauty and Beast stuck in my head. "Little town..." I think the town just reminded me of the movie. It was a cute little city and very friendly....just that we weren't in France so no random shouts of Bonjour! And when I was in Brighton the song in my head was "By the Sea" from Sweeny Todd. The dream that Mrs. Lovett had to live by the sea with Mr. Todd. "Think how snug we would be underneath our flannel, when its just you and me and the English Channel." Yes, that is being a trend of mine. Song of the day for trips.
Today was much more chill, since it is Sunday...the day of rest. Like I said, slept until 11 and then went grocery shopping in Camden. It is about a 3 mile walk round trip and I was packed to the max on my way back. I had a hankering for fruit so I got alot of it. Apples, raspberries, strawberries, and grapes. I stocked up on alot of other sandwich stuff as well....so I will be good for a while. Which is good because when I was paying and packing my things the lady behind me in line looked ticked that I was taking so long. As I finished up packing I apologized just to be nice. (I didn't think I was taking up that much valuable time). Here is our conversation. "I suppose you are carrying that all the way home?"--"Yes I am"--"I suppose you are American too?"--"Yes"---"Typical". Dont know what that attitude was about. I just smiled and told her to have a nice day. I really wanted to say, "Your right, a typical American would jump in their Hummer to drive across the street...I AM a typical American. Walking to get my load of groceries and be resourceful." However, I took the high road. Sorry for the mini vent session.
Finally with today being Father's Day I had a skype date with mom and dad. It was good to see him. It was good luck that he was in town with my mom to be able to skype with me. It was niiiiiiiiiiiiiice. Felt like I was home again...him sticking his tongue out at me and the two of us making faces at eachother while mom talked. Just like being at home. He is my superhero and I am so lucky to have a fantastic father and good friend in him. You made this trip possible for me dad...THANKS! You are the best, dont ever doubt it. Love you.

The last thing I did today was broke down and bought a new camera. So photos will be coming before you know it.

Hope you all have a great week and happy thoughts/moments your way!

Below are more pictures from Brighton.